If you’re not eating breakfast, you’re skipping out on one of the most simple, cornerstone elements of weight loss. You’ve heard all your life that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and you roll your eyes and run out the door in the morning without eating anything, certain that the longer you hold off on eating, the more fat your body will have to burn to provide you with energy to get through the day. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
Eating breakfast is important because it crank-starts your metabolism. Your metabolism is the engine that burns calories in order to provide your body with energy. When you sleep, your body goes into fast mode, shutting down your metabolism and conserving calories as its natural survival system kicks into action. It will continue to do so until you wake it up by giving it something to do– by eating. You want to get that fire burning right away– almost as soon as you get up, in order to maximize calorie burning. Try to eat breakfast, and your first 8 ounces or so of water, within half an hour of waking up in the morning. If you’re a coffee or tea drinker, do the cornerstone stuff first, then enjoy your caffeinated beverage of choice.
It’s also important to make sure you’re feeding that engine with the right kind of fuel. Not just any food will do, and it doesn’t need to be a lot of food, either. Choose something
Eating a nutrient-rich, carb-centric breakfast is one of the best ways to kick-start your metabolism in the morning.
that is primarily carbohydrates, and keep it around 250 calories, for men and women alike.
Like a fire, you need to keep putting logs on the blaze throughout the day to keep your metabolism operating efficiently. But if you place logs on a fire that isn’t burning properly, you’re just gonna end up with a big smoldering pile of wood that isn’t doing you any good.
Here’s a list of carb-centric, easy-to-make, breakfast ideas:
- Ezekiel Bread, toasted, (80 calories) with 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter (95 calories)
- 1 cup of cooked steel cut oats (170 calories) with 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (45 calories)
- Yoplait 100 Calories Greek Yogurt- Vanilla (100 calories) with 1/4 cup Bear Naked V’nilla Almond Fit granola (120 calories)
- Breakfast Burrito (300 calories)
- Eggo Nutri-Grain waffle (170 calories) with 1 cup of fresh fruit (like peaches or strawberries)
- 1/2 avocado (165 calories) and a hard-boiled egg (85 calories)
Download a FREE breakfast station kit to help you prep a month of grab-and-go breakfasts!
What are your go-to breakfast ideas?
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